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Police Story Part II (1988)

Sgt. Kevin Chan is back but this time, he has bigger issues to face both on and off the job in this action packed sequel to the 1985 original.

After having brought Chu Tao to justice in his unorthodox way, Sgt. Kevin Chan is relinquished to being a traffic cop. He begins to have trouble maintaining a balance between work and his relationship with girlfriend May. To make matters worse, Chu Tao is free from prison as a result of his learning he is terminally ill. While alive, Chu vows to make Kevin’s life a living hell. After sending John Ko and some men to assault May and her mother, Kevin goes after the goons. He soon learns he must choose between the job and his relationship. When making plans for a vacation, a bomb threat is made at the mall, which is at first a hoax until everyone has evacuated. Then the bomb goes off.

When May realizes Kevin is more into his job, she ends their relationship. The reason is because the day they were supposed to leave, Kevin is called in by Bill and Superintendent Lam to tackle the bomb case, which is a result of an extortion deal between the mall director and the bombers. Worse, Kevin accidentally had May’s passport when the plane took off. Despite Kevin once again stopping Ko and his men from an assault on himself and May, May still wants nothing to do with him. As Kevin draws closer to the bombers, he finds himself forced into a deadly situation that puts not only his life in jeopardy, but May’s as well.

Jackie Chan comes back to form in the seminal role of Kevin Chan, the Hong Kong everyman cop of Police Story as he faces perhaps his most dangerous threat. What is interesting here is that Chan and co-writer Edward Tang played some smarts here with the script. While Chor Yuen is back in a smaller role as original villain Chu Tao and a new threat comes in the form of a triple threat of bombers played by Ban Lam, John Cheung, and Benny Lai, Chan and Tang have smoothed out the edged with one particular storyline that makes this sequel truly work.

While Chan is best known for his elaborate action scenes and stunt work, the film takes a look at Kevin’s issue off the job. The relationship between Jackie’s Kevin and Maggie Cheung’s May proves to be vital to the plot of the film. It shows Chan at some of his dramatic best as he attempts to redeem himself towards his girlfriend, who by the second act, has dumped him. In a pivotal scene that leads to the third act, it is clear how much Kevin and May really care about each other.

The film does have its share of action, despite it not being truly up to the level of the original film. However, some key action moments stand out in this film. One involves Chan taking on some of Chu Tao’s goons in first a restaurant after the assault on May and then an attempt to get even goes sour for the goons at a playground where Kevin civilly talks to May after the break-up. While it is great to see Ben Lam and classic kung fu veteran John Cheung, they get a few knocks in with the highlight reel being Jackie Chan Stunt Team member Benny Lai unleashing all unholy hell as the mute superkicking member of the trio of villains that take over the film.

Police Story Part II is a pretty good sequel that brings more of a structured story involving Kevin Chan’s issues on and off the job along with Benny Lai stealing the show as the superkicking villain of the film.